PRODUCTS
& SERVICES
With the expansion of global trade and computerisation,
plain language descriptions of products and services need to be
replaced by identification systems that are usable in all trade
and industry sectors world-wide.
The EAN · UCC system has been developed to meet this need by providing
solutions that guarantees unique and unambiguous identification.
Manufacturers, exporters, importers, hospitals, wholesalers, retailers,
etc. can use the system to communicate information regarding the
goods or services they trade.
These unique identification numbers can be represented by bar code
symbols. This enables inexpensive and accurate data capture thus
providing the required information at all points of the supply chain.
Example of an EAN-13 bar code:
One of the main concepts of the EAN · UCC systems is that any item
(product or service) upon which there is a need to retrieve pre-defined
information and that may be priced or ordered or invoiced at any point
in any supply chain. can be allocated a unique identification number
- the Global Trade Item Number, or GTIN for short.
A GTIN can be constructed using four numbering structures (explained
below) depending upon the exact application and the bar code symbology
to be used. However, in databases all GTIN are unique and unambiguous
when right justified in a 14-digit field.
|
|
14-digit
Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)
|
| |
T1 |
T2 |
T3 |
T4 |
T5 |
T6 |
T7 |
T8 |
T9 |
T10 |
T11 |
T12 |
T13 |
T14 |
| EAN/UCC-14 |
N1 |
N2 |
N3 |
N4 |
N5 |
N6 |
N7 |
N8 |
N9 |
N10 |
N11 |
N12 |
N13 |
N14 |
| EAN/UCC-13 |
0 |
N1 |
N2 |
N3 |
N4 |
N5 |
N6 |
N7 |
N8 |
N9 |
N10 |
N11 |
N12 |
N13 |
| UCC-12 |
0 |
0 |
N1 |
N2 |
N3 |
N4 |
N5 |
N6 |
N7 |
N8 |
N9 |
N10 |
N11 |
N12 |
| EAN/UCC-8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
N1 |
N2 |
N3 |
N4 |
N5 |
N6 |
N7 |
N8 |
1. Numbering structures
used for trade items intended to cross the retail point of sale.
Any
item which crosses the retail point of sale should be bar coded
using the EAN/UPC symbology
and the two most widely used numbering structures for this symbology
are the EAN/UCC-13 and UCC-12. The GTIN is constructed as follows:
| |
EAN/UCC-13
identification number (GTIN)
|
|
EAN•UCC
company prefix
------------------------------> |
Item reference
<------------------------------ |
|
Check digit
|
|
EAN/UCC-13
|
| N
1 |
N
2 |
N
3 |
N
4 |
N
5 |
N
6 |
N
7 |
N
8 |
N
9 |
N
10 |
N
11 |
N
12 |
|
N 13
|
|
UCC-12
|
| 0 |
N
1 |
N
2 |
N
3 |
N
4 |
N
5 |
N
6 |
N
7 |
N
8 |
N
9 |
N
10 |
N
11 |
|
N 12
|
EANoUCC
company prefix:
Any company wishing to identify their products
will be allocated an EAN · UCC
company prefix upon joining an EAN Member Organisation or the UCC.
The company prefix is variable in length and is normally determined
by the capacity of GTINs required (10, 100, 1,000, etc.)
Item
reference:
This part of the numbering structure is allocated
by the user company. Each different trade item is allocated a different
number and, for ease of administration, it is recommended that companies
do this sequentially (001, 002, 003, etc.).
Check digit: EAN
· UCC has a standard check-digit algorithm for all GTINs.This
is calculated using the preceding digits.
Once
assigned, the GTIN can then be bar code onto the trade item using
the EAN/UPC symbology. All identical trade items use an identical
GTIN & bar code.
GTIN
(UCC-12) in UPC-A symbol
GTIN
(EAN/UCC-13) in EAN-13 symbol
It
is important to use the correct bar code symbol. You will receive
full information upon becoming a member of an EAN Member Organisation
or the UCC.
Special
consideration for very small retail items
Some
retail items are very small and it is difficult for the package
to accommodate a full sized UPC-A or EAN-13 bar code symbol. In
such situations it is possible to apply for a GTIN which can be
encoded into a smaller bar code symbol. Due to the limited capacity
EAN Member Organisations and the UCC normally allocated these GTINs
one-by-one.
GTIN
(UCC-12) in UPC-E GTIN symbol
(EAN/UCC-8)
in EAN-8 symbol
Special
considerations for pre-packed variable measure retail items
Many
products sold in retail stores do not have a pre-defined weight
(or other attribute such as length or area) but are sold by random
weight at a fixed price per kilo. Examples include certain cheeses,
packaged meat or fish (or lengths of electrical wire or timbre).
Very often the price to paid by the customer is calculated according
to the variable weight of the item multiplied by the fixed
price per kilo.
Suppliers
of such items should contact their EAN Member Organisation or the
UCC for the exact details of the how EAN · UCC standards
are used to identify such products.
Special
considerations for retail items sold in North America
Today
most retail stores in North America will only stock items bar coded
with an UPC-A or UPC-E symbol. This restriction, based upon historical
investments, mandates the use of UCC-12 based GTINs.
The
EAN/UCC Alliance Program provides UCC-12 GTINs, at minimal cost,
to members of EAN Member Organisations. Companies exporting to North
America should contact their EAN Member Organisation or the UCC
for the exact details.
The
UCC has further announced that all EAN/UPC symbol types will be
acceptable in North America by 2005.
Special
considerations for books and magazines (serial publications)
EAN
International and UCC have agreements with the relevant international
organisations to enable EAN-13 based GTINs to be derived from the
ISBN (for books) and the ISSN (for serial publications). Publishers
should contact their EAN Member Organisation or the UCC for the
exact details.
Any
users of the ISBN should note that there are plans in place to implement
the EAN · UCC prefixes 978 and 979 as part of the ISBN by
2005. This will mean that the length of ISBNs will increase from
the present 10-digits to 13-digits. It is therefore important to
process the entire GTIN to avoid duplication.
2.
Numbering structures used for trade items NOT intended to cross
the retail point of sale
The
bar code symbology and numbering structures used for ‘trade
items intended to cross the retail point of sale’ also apply
to non-retail items. However, user companies have the additional
option to use the ITF-14 bar code symbology, the UCC/EAN-128 bar
code symbology and GTINs based upon the EAN/UCC-14 numbering structure.
GTINs
created using the EAN/UCC-14 structure are used for 'trade items'
which are themselves packages of smaller trade items (for example
a case of 24 retail units). The GTIN is constructed as follows:
|
EAN/UCC-14
identification number (GTIN)
|
| |
Indicator
|
EAN•UCC
GTIN of contained trade item
(without
check digit)
|
Check
digit
|
|
EAN/UCC-8
|
N
1
|
| 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
N
7 |
N
8 |
N
9 |
N
10 |
N
11 |
N
12 |
N
13 |
|
N
14
|
|
UCC-12
|
N
1
|
| 0 |
N
3 |
N
4 |
N
5 |
N
6 |
N
7 |
N
8 |
N
9 |
N
10 |
N
11 |
N
12 |
N
13 |
|
N
14
|
|
EAN/UCC-13
|
N
1
|
| N
2 |
N
3 |
N
4 |
N
5 |
N
6 |
N
7 |
N
8 |
N
9 |
N
10 |
N
11 |
N
12 |
N
13 |
|
N
14
|
Indicator:
A digit to complete a particular identification number or to add
some sort of significance to a particular GTIN. The digits that
may be used are 1 to 8 to denote packaging configuration (for example
a case of 12 retail items could use indicator 1, while a case of
24 retail items could use the indicator 2. etc). The digit 9 in
this position is used to denote a variable measure trade item.EAN•UCC
GTIN of contained trade item (without check digit) : The GTIN of
the contained unit, normally the lowest level of packaging, is the
basis for this numbering structure. The GTIN of the contained item
can be based on the EAN/UCC-8, UCC-12 or EAN/UCC-13 numbering structure.
Check
digit: EAN · UCC
has a standard check-digit algorithm for all GTINs.This
is calculated using all the preceding digits.
Once
assigned, the GTIN can then be bar code onto the trade item using
the ITF-14 or UCC/EAN-128 bar code symbology. All identical trade
items use an identical GTIN & bar code.GTIN (EAN/UCC-14) in
ITF–14 symbol
GTIN
(EAN/UCC-14) in UCC/EAN-128 symbol
It
is important to use the correct bar code symbol. This choice this
will depend largely upon where the bar code will be scanned. You
will receive full information upon becoming a member of an EAN Member
Organisation or the UCC.Special consideration for very small trade
items
Some
trade items, such as certain medical devises, unit dose pharmaceutical
products or printed circuit boards, have a very limited amount of
packaging space upon which to print the bar code symbol containing
the GTIN. In such circumstances companies wish to use the smallest
possible bar code symbol possible.
The
X dimension (the width of the narrowest bar or spaces) has the largest
impact on the overall size of the bar code symbol and EAN ·
UCC recommend an absolute minimum X-dimension of 0.254 mm. (0.010
inch). Special care should be taken when printing bar codes using
a low X-dimension. Full information is available from your EAN Member
Organisation or the UCC.
In
recognition that printing bar codes on very small items - particularly
where more information than just the GTIN is required - remains
a business critical issue, EAN/UCC are working on a new family of
bar codes known as Reduced Space Symbology
(RSS).Special considerations for conveyor scanning environments
Scanning
in automated warehouse has become increasingly common in recent
years and experience has shown that large EAN · UCC bar codes
symbols scan much more consistently than smaller ones.
The
X dimension (the width of the narrowest bar or spaces) has the largest
impact on the size of the bar code symbol and EAN · UCC recommend
an that an X-dimension between 0.508 mm. (0.020 inch) and 1.016
mm (0.040 inch) should be used in a conveyor scanning environment.
There is really no maximum for the height of the symbol, but the
minimum symbol height for general distribution scanning is 32 mm
(1.25 inch). Full information is available from your EAN Member
Organisation or the UCC.
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